7 Key Ways Game of Thrones Deviates From George R.R. Martin’s Novels

Peter Dinklage continues his inspired turn as sharp-witted dwarf Tyrion Lannister, one of Game of Thrones' most compelling characters.Photo: Paul Schiraldi

As a huge fan of George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, I greatly enjoyed Sunday night’s season premiere of Game of Thrones, HBO’s violent medieval drama based on the books.

The show continues to do an admirable job of squeezing the sprawling story into a television format, and remains remarkably faithful to its brutal source material. Still, the season opener, titled “The North Remembers,” contained several deviations from Martin’s sacred text that will get a book curmudgeon grumbling.

Here are the most glaring changes from the first episode of Season 2, which is being adapted from the novel A Clash of Kings, the second book in Martin’s series about warring factions in Westeros.

(Spoiler alert: Minor plot points follow.)

1) Where Are the Horses?

One big stumbling block for suspending disbelief while watching Game of Thrones is that the show is conspicuously lacking in the equine department. Martin said at Worldcon last year that the horse deficit stems purely from budgetary constraints, so you can’t really fault the producers for this. But the horse problem led to some puzzling moments in Season 1, such as the sight of the indolent, morbidly obese King Robert apparently planning to run down a wild boar on foot. There was also an odd shot that seemed to suggest Tyrion and his savage cohort had hiked all the way from the Mountains of the Moon to the Lannister encampment on foot.

This lack of horses rears its head again in the Season 2 premiere, as a jousting tournament from the novel has been replaced by random knights being selected to go mano-a-mano against Sandor Clegane, aka the Hound, on a narrow walkway high above a flagstone courtyard. Even by the standards of medieval entertainment, this seems a little dangerous, but it’s not out of character as something the psychopathic King Joffrey might have contrived, so I’m willing to go with it. The fact that the day’s festivities seem more suicide mission than tourney even gives Ser Dontos a clearer reason to start drinking. Which brings us to …

2) Where is Ser Dontos’ Manhood?

Ser Dontos Hollard makes an unforgettable entrance in A Clash of Kings as exactly the sort of knight who likes to rock out with his cock out. That is, he’s so staggering drunk that he’s forgotten to put on pants, which is part of what incenses Joffrey enough to call for his head. We know from Season 1 that Game of Thrones has no qualms about full-frontal nudity, so why is Dontos so overdressed here?

And another thing: What’s up with everyone giving him a bad time for being “drunk?” Look, I went to college, I know drunk, and you, sir, are no drunk. He’s barely even buzzed.

It seems they’ve decided to make Dontos less of a train wreck here than he is in the books. Maybe this’ll make him more sympathetic, or make him seem more of a credible ally for Sansa. Or maybe the show just didn’t have time to fully play out a long scene with a staggering drunk, since drunk people tend to … talk and … respond … really slowly … man.

Davos Seaworth (played by Liam Cunningham) should heft his sword with his right hand, not his left.Photo: Helen Sloan

3) Why is Davos Left-Handed?

In A Clash of Kings, we meet the Onion Knight, Davos Seaworth, who had been a smuggler before throwing in with Stannis. Stannis, being somewhat of a stickler for the rules, had insisted that before Davos could enter his service, Davos must first be punished for his years of smuggling by having the fingertips of his left hand cut off, while his good hand, his right hand, was left untouched.

In the show, the actor who plays Davos, Liam Cunningham, keeps his fingers curled up inside his glove, and when necessary, the tips of his fingers will be removed with CGI. But in the show it’s his right hand that’s missing its fingertips. Reportedly this was done to accommodate the actor, who in real life is left-handed.

Frankly, this is an outrage. I don’t know how, as a die-hard Song of Ice and Fire book geek, I’m supposed to suspend disbelief when Davos is missing the fingertips of the wrong hand. Not only should the TV show’s producers decline to indulge this prima donna, they should have surgically removed his fingertips, too. It’s all for the good of the story.

4) Why Does Stannis Have Hair?

Stannis Baratheon in the books is described as bald and beautiful, but on TV his pate seems to have become infested with some sort of hairy follicles. This wouldn’t be such a big deal if they hadn’t also made Tywin Lannister and Syrio Forel not-bald as well.

What, are there no bald men who can act?

Apparently the show’s creators had planned to give Miltos Yerolemou, the actor who plays Syrio, a prosthetic bald head, but it just didn’t look right. (Same thing happened with the violet contacts for the Targaryens.) Yerolemou reportedly offered to shave his head for the role, but the producers decided it didn’t really matter. Yerolemou was such a terrific Syrio that I’m willing to let his coiffure slide, but is it really so much to ask to get some DHT on this show? Anyway, actor Stephen Dillane has so far done an effective job at portraying Stannis, so we can only hope that all that hair doesn’t weigh him down too much as the season progresses.

5) Why is Cersei Threatening Littlefinger?

I’m really lukewarm on the scenes in Game of Thrones that don’t appear in the books. Occasionally they illuminate the characters in interesting ways, but most of the time they just seem superfluous at best and out of character at worst. The Season 2 premiere features a scene where Cersei Lannister orders her men to execute Lord Petyr Baelish (aka Littlefinger), then spares him at the last minute. This seems pretty bizarre considering that he recently saved the life of her and her children by betraying Ned Stark. Granted, Cersei in the books doesn’t always show the best judgment, but openly threatening the life of one of the most powerful men in Westeros for no apparent reason seems like a boneheaded move, even for her.

The character of Cersei Lannister (played by Lena Headey) deviates from the source material considerably in Game of Thrones.Photo: Helen Sloan

6) Why is Cersei Slapping Joffrey?

Here’s another scene that’s not in the books and that also feels out of character. It’s almost Cersei’s defining characteristic in the books that she never reins in or disciplines her son. She even justifies murdering her husband, Robert, by saying that he hits Joffrey. Tyrion slapping Joff in Season 1 became something of a sensation among fans, with internet memes, animated GIFs and even music videos springing up all over the place, so maybe the producers felt like it was time to bring back a classic.

In Season 2, Joffrey seems to have made it clear that he won’t stand for being slapped around by his mom anymore, which raises an important question: Who is going to slap him? I mean, someone‘s got to hit that kid.

7) What is Ros Even Doing in This Show?

Argh. This episode had more Ros, the random sex worker who doesn’t appear in the books but whose boobs get more screen time than the Night’s Watch. I can sort of see the logic of having one recognizable character who can pop up anytime the writers need to give a speaking part to a brothel employee, but still the George R.R. Martin purist in me revolts at the idea that Ros has come out of nowhere to be such a major character.

Her scene in “The North Remembers” opens with a callback to last season’s infamous “sexposition” scene, which maybe isn’t the most auspicious way to begin the new season. Fortunately, right after that Ros actually becomes involved in a dramatic, non-expository scene that’s integral to the plot, so that’s moving things in the right direction. Bring on Episode 2.

Blowback: Did You Like Game of Thrones’ Season 2 Opener?

What’s your take on Sunday’s Season 2 premiere? Got your own geeky nits to pick with HBO’s adaptation? Let us know in the comments below.